Dr. Schlegel responds to "cure" of prostate cancer with testosterone

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine reported that they were able to "cure" prostate cancer by shocking patients with high levels of testosterone, followed by depriving patients of testosterone.  Dr. Schlegel comments.

From Dr. Schlegel, "Prior studies of high dose testosterone for men with prostate cancer led to rapid, sometimes painful death for men in a similar situation, so these results should be interpreted with caution.

Most research studies would compare a control treatment (E.g., usual care) with an intervention ("bipolar androgen therapy" in this case) to see if the new treatment is better than standard care. It appears this critical step was not done. It's also important to remember that the mainstay of management for these patients was androgen deprivation."

 Read the original story from the Telegraph here and the study by Samuel Denmeade's team from Hopkins here.

Dr. Peter N. Schlegel

James J Colt Professor & Chair of Urology Weill Cornell Medicine 

Center for Male Reproductive Medicine & Microsurgery Weill Cornell Medicine
525 E 68th Street
New York, NY 10065